Changes to Vodafone’s Pay As You Go charges angers customers

If you’re using a Vodafone Pay AS You Go plan for your Samsung Galaxy S4 or Apple iPhone 5, you’re sure to be annoyed with the changes the network operator made to the way they charge.

The Guardian reports, “Millions of Vodafone pay as you go customers will see the cost of their calls rise by as much as 90% after the company said it was “simplifying” prices.

“Vodafone is switching from charging per second to charging per minute. That means, for example, that a call lasting 62 seconds that currently costs 26p will, from 1 August, cost 50p – an increase of 92%.”

Vodafone PAYG customers received a text message that tells them to go to vodaphone.co.uk/amends. Here, a headline reads, “Pay as you go pricing just got simpler.” It goes on to say, “Pay by the minute – and always know how much credit you have left. Calls on Pay as you go are getting simpler from 1 August 2013. No more complicated pricing by the second – just clear, straightforward per minute charges.”

It adds, “So if your call is a minute and 37 seconds long, it’ll be charged as two minutes. That way, you’ll always know exactly how many minutes you have left.”

On Vodafone’s forums, one customer writes in response to Dave, a representative from Vodafone’s tech team, “Dave- I understand you have to toe the company line but please don’t patronise us. This is being introduced to make more money for VF pure and simple. It doesn’t make anything simpler other than the fact that PAYG customers will essentially pay more for calls.”

Another writes, “Just noticed this piece of nonsense. Honestly, Dave, it would be better not to try justifying price hikes. Companies put their prices up, their customers decide whether to stay or go, that’s how commercial life works. This price hike probably works out quite expensive for people who only make short calls, but may not matter over much to those who make very few calls.”

A spokesperson for Vodafone said, “Many of our competitors already offer this kind of price charging.”

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